Poultry and mammals: structure of the dog

Domestic poultry – hen, goose, duck, turkey and sometimes quail – are kept for meat, eggs, feathers and down. Breeds are artificially created by people and differ in useful traits. Hens are kept most; their ancestor is the red junglefowl (bankiv hen) of the forests of South-East Asia, domesticated several thousand years ago. Hen breeds fall into three directions: egg (Russian White, Leghorn: light birds laying 200–300 eggs a year, starting at 5–6 months), egg-meat (Zagorsk, New Hampshire, Pervomaysk: larger, 2.5–4 kg) and meat (Cornish, Plymouth Rock: 3–4.5 kg, few eggs). From meat breeds broilers – fast-growing meat chickens – are raised; their meat is tender and low in fat. The wild duck was domesticated about 3,000 years ago; the domestic duck is mostly kept for meat (Moscow, Peking, Ukrainian breeds). Domestic geese came from the greylag goose: they became larger and lost the ability to fly and are kept for meat and down. The turkey originates from the wild turkey of America and was brought to Europe in the 16th century; it is the largest domestic bird (up to 16 kg). Poultry farms have breeding birds, an incubation shop, egg and meat shops and a waste-treatment shop. Chicks hatch in incubators; temperature, humidity and light are controlled by machines. In winter artificial light lengthens the day and increases egg numbers. Safety and hygiene: wash hands with soap after working with poultry, cook meat and eggs thoroughly, and show sick birds to a vet.